NEWS RELEASE TRANSMITTED BY CANADIAN CORPORATE NEWS
FOR: WESTJET AIRLINES LTD.
TSE SYMBOL: WJA
JANUARY 20, 2000
WestJet Announces New Eastern Canada Routes
HAMILTON, ONTARIO--WestJet Airlines today outlined the details of
the expansion of its low-fare, short haul air service, including
the development of a hub in Hamilton, Ontario with service to the
cities of Winnipeg and Thunder Bay beginning March 9. WestJet
will also add new service from Hamilton to Ottawa, Halifax and
Montreal by mid-summer, subject to airport negotiations.
At a press conference held in Hamilton, Ontario this morning,
President and CEO Stephen Smith outlined the company's strategy
for growth saying "Hamilton is a central location that will
provide the opportunity for more than two million people to take
advantage of our low-fare air service. This is an exciting time
for WestJet as we take a large step into eastern Canada."
With Hamilton, Ontario as its hub, the airline will be the first
to provide jet service between Hamilton and the cities of Thunder
Bay and Winnipeg. WestJet will add service between Hamilton and
Halifax and Hamilton and Ottawa in the spring, followed in the
summer by the addition of service between Hamilton and Montreal
and increased frequency on many of its existing routes.
The details of today's expansion are as follows:
- March 9, 2000 - WestJet will add one additional aircraft to its
fleet, commencing daily service between Hamilton and Winnipeg and
between Hamilton and Thunder Bay. One flight per day will
continue from Thunder Bay onto Calgary, providing the only
connection between WestJet's eastern and western networks. In
addition, one flight per day will be added to the existing
schedule between Abbotsford and Calgary.
- In the spring - A second additional aircraft will be added to
the fleet, providing a back-up to their system and adding the
cities of Ottawa and Halifax to its network out of the Hamilton
International Airport.
- In the summer - WestJet will add two additional aircraft to its
fleet, and add Montreal to its route network out of Hamilton. At
this point, proposed service from Hamilton will be as follows:
three flights per day to Winnipeg, two flights per day to Halifax,
three flights per day to Ottawa, two flights per day to Montreal
and one flight per day to Thunder Bay. One-stop service to
Calgary will be available twice per day, once through Thunder Bay
and once through Winnipeg.
The airline, which in recent years has accomplished
record-breaking profits including ten consecutive quarters of
profitability, projects that its earnings will continue to grow as
a result of this announcement. "In keeping with our vision of
becoming Canada's low fare, short haul airline, we believe eastern
Canadians, like western Canadians, will support us, based on our
strong reputation of exceptional customer service and low fares.
We will continue to stick to the strategy that has worked for us
in the west as we grow our eastern network."
WestJet will launch into the Hamilton market with one-way fares
starting at $99 between Hamilton and Thunder Bay, $125 between
Hamilton and Winnipeg and $179 between Hamilton and Calgary. The
airline has loaded this schedule and has seats immediately
available to the public for the first stage of the expansion.
Information on fares and schedules for the remaining destinations
will be available within a few weeks.
Expanding on its recent announcement, WestJet confirmed that the
proposed acquisition of new generation aircraft will provide the
needed resources to effectively connect its eastern and western
networks. WestJet plans to strengthen the connection between its
hub cities of Calgary and Hamilton starting in 2001.
WestJet Airlines launched flight operations on February 29, 1996.
Since that time the company has continued its steady and
sustainable growth strategy, building a network of service
throughout western Canada. Currently, WestJet operates fourteen
aircraft to the twelve cities of Victoria, Vancouver,
Abbotsford/Fraser Valley, Kelowna, Prince George, Grande Prairie,
Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg and Thunder Bay.
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